Ex-VP Binay eyes free skills training for Makati residents

Former vice president Jejomar “Jojo” Binay has vowed to establish a scholarship fund to provide free skills training to his constituents should he get elected as congressman representing the first district of Makati in the House of Representatives.

“One of the first things I would do is to establish a scholarship fund with TESDA

(Technical Education and Skills Development Authority) to provide free skills training to my constituents. They can choose which skills they want to develop and later on use to get employed or set up a livelihood,” he said.

Binay said District 1 residents should be equipped with skills and competencies that are in high demand in the job market. “I want more residents to get hired right away after training so they can earn a living and be self-reliant.”

The former Vice President said “a diploma is not the be-all and end-all of education. The most relevant and tangible outcome of education is, of course, gainful employment.”

During his time as mayor of Makati, the city-run University of Makati (UMak) became the pioneer institution in the country to adopt the Dualized University Education System (DUES) under the leadership of the late University president Tomas Lopez.

DUES is an educational and training strategy using duals or pairs, matching academic study with apprenticeship, university with industry, and classroom theory with real-world practice.

Binay said his strong advocacy for public-private partnership (PPP) paved the way to the continuing success of DUES in the development of highly competitive and employable UMak graduates. The university currently has more than 700 industry partners that provide on-thejob training to students and employment to graduates of UMak.